It is well known that many persons suffer from pains in the back, neck, and shoulders because of poor posture or from long periods of leaning over a desk or table in a particular occupation. The area of the seventh cervical vertebra of the spine is placed under stress when the head is bent one way or the other, and if such stress is maintained over a long period of time, one or more spinal discs in that cervical area will be displaced posteriorly and engage spinal nerves or the spinal chord causing pain and discomfort. A discussion of such matters is found in The Journal of Clinical Chiropractic, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1974, pages 16-33 in an article by John Fiore entitled "Discaltic Aberrations of the Spine."
Several prior art workers have suggested various designs of pillows to relieve neck strain, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,707 to Thompson; U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,779 to Tolkowsky; U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,088 to Boos; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,828 to McCarty. While these disclosures show pillows which may be of help in relieving neck strain, they do not provide the best design for maximum all around use in reducing displaced cervical discs.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved pillow to support the area of the seventh cervical vertebra. It is another object of this invention to provide an improved cervical support pillow which can be used when sleeping. Still other objects will be apparent from the more detailed description of this invention which follows.